In 2023, the Painted Wolf Foundation (PWF) supported the Southern Rift Association of Landowners (SORALO) to launch painted wolf conservation in Kenya’s Rift Valley. This led to a $22,500 grant from the Painted Dog Fund to fund this programme.
This 15,000km2 landscape, spanning from the Maasai Mara boundary in the West to Amboseli in the east, is home to a small population of painted wolves at high risk of extinction. In this area, 96% of Maasai community members fear or resent painted wolves, representing a deeply rooted concern that will take serious work to mitigate.
SORALO, a community-led association of Maasai landowners, has been working to change wildlife perceptions in the Southern Rift for over 15 years. They’ve established three community conservancies, creating safe spaces for wildlife alongside pastoralists. By combining traditional and modern governance, SORALO strives to protect both natural resources and land for people and wildlife.
SORALO reports that “support from PWF has been instrumental in halting the killing of painted wolves within the SORALO landscape and has begun to shift negative community perceptions and promote tolerance of painted wolves”.
Initially PWF facilitated the visit of the SORALO team to Painted Dog Conservation, to assist with the creation of their painted wolf strategy and ensure that knowledge from PDC could be assimilated into the conservation efforts within the Southern Rift. Then, through collaboration with over 150 community leaders and training 22 local ambassadors (ilaretok), SORALO has been successful in mitigating livestock losses and reducing retaliatory killings by notifying herders of painted wolf presence and assisting with conflict resolution.
Despite this great progress, challenges remain. Communities without resident painted wolves still maintain deeply negative perceptions. To address this, SORALO as developed a long-term strategy to re-establish and sustain painted wolf populations across the entire Southern Rift. With the support from the Painted Dog Fund and PWF, this ambitious plan has given hope that painted wolves can thrive in an area once hostile to their survival.
